STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Borough residents were to awake Saturday to a thick blanket of snow, the kind that has been absent from these parts for two years and is not particularly welcome as an encore to destructive Hurricane Sandy.

On the plus side, the storm will have snowed itself out by 9 a.m. Saturday, the weatherman said, and Saturday afternoon is expected to be sunny but chilly, with a high of just 33 degrees.

According to the latest forecasts, snow accumulation was expected to be somewhat less than the foot that had been predicted for Staten Island, with AccuWeather predicting eight to 12 inches and the National Weather Service three to seven inches. And with a warming trend due to start Sunday that will push the mercury to the high 40s, the snow shouldn't stick around long.

The city Parks Department invited children to enjoy it while it lasts, with winter fun and complimentary cocoa at the sledding hill at Martling and Slosson avenues, in Clove Lakes Park, from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday.

Despite the wind gusts, Consolidated Edison was reporting no significant power outages associated with the storm here as of 8:30 p.m. Friday.

While the lines were nothing like those in Sandy's wake, residents were descending in droves on the borough's filling stations.

Annette Gerdes of Grasmere was forced to buy the more expensive premium instead of regular at a small gas station Friday afternoon and saw the specter of price gouging.

"We're doing everything we can to prepare for the storm," Mrs. Gerdes said. "Staten Island is having bad times as it is. Who watches the gas?"

A Shell station on Hylan Boulevard in Dongan Hills had at least one pump that was out of regular gas as lines of cars blocked traffic. The same scenario played out at gas stations across the borough.

Lori Powers of South Beach backed up to a second pump to fill her truck.

"I definitely would like to be better-prepared just in case I have to go to Jersey or Brooklyn or some place for someone in my family," Mrs. Powers said. "I think that it's definitely going to be tough getting gas because I passed six [stations] with lines three blocks long."

Saturday morning's high tide was cause for concern, said Joey Picca, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, and a flooding advisory was in effect due to the potential for a two-to-four-foot storm surge -- again, much less than what was experienced during Sandy.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency as snow began to fall heavily Friday.

A 35-mph speed restriction was in place on the Port Authority's Outerbridge Crossing and the Goethals and Bayonne Bridges.

About 2,300 flights were canceled and the state's airports were expected to close, Cuomo said.

The Staten Island Railway and buses were operating, with some delays, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority reserved the right to curtail some bus service into Saturday, the mayor said.

Amtrak canceled service north of the city, where snowfall of historic proportions was expected.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg sought to clear the streets of cars and people so city plows could get to work; drivers were expected to work 12-hour shifts.

"City Sanitation workers are on a full mobilization, and have been since Thursday night," said Bloomberg at a press conference Friday. "And the department has made arrangements with private-sector contractors to pull in more than 100 pieces of additional heavy equipment for cleaning residential streets."

There were about 1,700 plows, 65 front-end loaders and 450 salt spreaders out on the roads during the storm, Bloomberg said.

The Department of Sanitation has a GPS tool on its website that allows users to enter their address to track the city's progress in clearing their streets.

Lastly, the mayor said anyone without shelter -- especially those whose homes were damaged by Hurricane Sandy -- should call 311 and the city will arrange shelter.

Donna Graziano planned to ride out the storm as long as she can in her car next to the New Dorp Beach Community Hub that she has run since Hurricane Sandy hit.

Last week, mighty winds knocked down one of the tents that comprise the Community Hub, and it seemed that wind gusts coupled with the wet, heavy snow could present a bigger problem for the weekend.

"We put up tarps and nailed them down, and as you can see, we have a floor now," Ms. Graziano said of her preparations for the winds. "There's not much we can do about heavy snow. It's just another thing for these people to worry about."

Marie Mandia of New Dorp Beach said there has been no indication that she and her neighbors should evacuate.

Still, "I don't want anyone to take any crazy chances," Ms. Mandia said outside the Hub. "If you have to leave, you leave. I am worried about our tent here."

Frank Cavallaro of New Dorp Beach made a final inspection of his home before leaving for a friend's apartment.

Unlike Ms. Mandia, he suspected that the rain had saturated the ground to the point where flooding could become a problem.

"I'm worried about the water coming up again, and the snow, nobody is going to be able to get by," Cavallaro said. "I hope Sanitation will be here to plow."

He complained that the city had been derelict about rebuilding the sand berms on the beach to protect the neighborhood against any possible minor storm surge.

"There's nothing you can do," he said. "It's the city, what they should have done is build up the beach. They had all the time. If you go down New Dorp Lane, they did it in the park in front of the buildings there. Why didn't they just do it all along? As usual, Staten Island was forgotten."

New Dorp Beach resident Eddie Saman, who just got a new roof on his home donated by the Dr. Theodore A. Atlas Foundation and received an extension on a voucher to stay at the Hilton Garden Inn, Bloomfield, made his way there Friday.

"Thank the city of New York, they put me in a hotel, it was for three days while they finished the roof, but it is extended until Feb. 14," Saman said. "My problem now is the transportation because from here to there it is too far. If you take the bus, it will take about three hours because you have to change."

Organizers plan to keep the relief hub open throughout the snowstorm until 8 p.m. on Saturday. The tent has food, water, jackets, sleeping bags and other supplies, said Aiman Youssef, a volunteer at the relief tent.

Also, the Saturday gun buy-back program sponsored by District Attorney Daniel Donovan and the NYPD will continue as planed from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at St. Mary's Episcopal Church at 347 Davis Ave. 